BELIZE CITY, Wed. Jan. 20, 2021– We were a bit late in securing the details of 11 medals received by a Belizean contingent that traveled to San Jose, Costa Rica at the end of last year, December 28-29, for the 2020 Central American Championships in Athletics; and we belatedly recount the results here for the record, and also to remind ourselves of the 6 records still being held by Belizean athletes at this tournament.
Some 14 senior athletes, 8 males and 6 females, accompanied by coaches Fred Evans and Ernest Morris travelled to Costa Rica, courtesy of Belize Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (BOCGA), and participated in the following events:
FEMALES: Hilary Gladden – 100m and 4 x100m Relay; Faith Morris – 100m; Samantha Dirks – 200m and 4x100m Relay; Ashontie Carr – 800m, 400m Hurdles, and 4x100m Relay; Ashantie Carr – 100m Hurdles and Triple Jump; and Tricia Flores – Long Jump and 4x100m Relay.
MALES: Shaun Gill – 100m and 4x100m Relay; Mark Anderson – 200m and 4x100m Relay; Frederick Usher – 400m; Amir Ramos – 800m; Brandon Adolphus – 5000m; Brandon Jones – Triple Jump and 4x100m Relay; Rahim Monsanto – 4x100m Relay; and Waylon Gordon – Shot Put.
MEDALS
Medals for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place were received as follows:
FEMALES: Hilary Gladden – 3rd Place in 100m (12.61s); Samantha Dirks – 1st Place in 200m (24.72s); Ashontie Carr – 3rd Place in 800m (2:25) and 2nd Place in 400m Hurdles (1:09.35); Ashantie Carr – 2nd Place in 100m Hurdles (22.09) and 3rd Place in Triple Jump (11.86m); Tricia Flores – 3rd Place in Long Jump (5.74m); and Team Belize (Hilary Gladden, Samantha Dirks, Ashontie Carr and Tricia Flores) – 2nd Place in 4x100m Relay (48.36s).
MALES: Amir Ramos – 3rd Place in 1500m (5:01.52); Brandon Jones – 1st Place in Triple Jump (15.86m); and Team Belize (Shaun Gill, Brandon Jones, Rahim Monsanto and Mark Anderson) – 3rd Place in 4x100m Relay (41.58s).
RECORDS BY BELIZEANS
Currently there are 6 records, 4 by females and 2 by males, being held by Belizean athletes at the Central American Senior Championships which began back in 1958. They are as follows:
FEMALES
*100m – 11.56 (wind: -0.3m/s) by Kaina Martinez (Belize) at San Salvador, El Salvador on June 18, 2016.
*400m – 53.54 by Samantha Dirks (Belize) at Tegucigalpa, Honduras on July 2, 2017.
*Shot Put – 15.67m by Itohan Aikhionbare (Belize) at San Salvador, El Salvador on June 17, 2016.
*4x100m Relay – 46.61 by Team Belize (Faith Morris, Kaina Martinez, Tricia Flores and Samantha Dirks) at San Salvador, El Salvador on June 18, 2016.
MALES
*Triple Jump – 16.22 m (-1.9 m/s) NR by Brandon Jones (Belize) at San Salvador, El Salvador on June 19, 2016.
*400m Hurdles – 49.73 by Jonathan Williams (Belize) at Guatemala City, Guatemala on June 13, 2009.
(NOTE: From wikipedia.org: Key – NR = National Record)